Sunday, June 9, 2013

The past couple of weeks have been a busy and exciting time
here, and for a couple of members of the family, it was certainly time to
shine! This post is a chance to
recognize Robert and Paisley for their most recent achievements, as well as to
mention a really wonderful gift which I received.

Last Tuesday night, Robert and I did something that we haven’t
done in years: We went to a
concert! He surprised me last Christmas
with tickets to see Fleetwood Mac – in a section where we wouldn’t even need
binoculars! The funny thing is that Fleetwood
Mac was so popular when I was young, and while I thought they were
okay, I wasn’t especially taken with them at that time. It has only been in the last three years or
so that their music has actually “spoken” to my soul – especially Stevie Nicks’
music (I’m pretty sure that “Landside” was written just for me). So not only were there applause on Tuesday
night, there was some whistling, shouting, and just general jamming out. So fun!

The next event that I want to share was for our old coot...It
has been a good season for Robert in his career. For the past few years he has been an
engineer for the city in which he works, but he was recently promoted to become
The
City Engineer. This is a
position that he has wanted very much, and I am so happy that he has the chance
to do something that he really wants to do.
It has meant that he has been gone from home much more, and I’m learning
to just make him a plate at dinner time for him to heat in the microwave later. However, he thinks it is worth all the extra
time and effort, and since he’s the one that has to get up and go every day, I’m
going to help support him in any way possible.

Right on the heels of his promotion came the news that he
had won an award at the state level of the American Public Works Association. It’s always nice to win an award, but I think
this had a special significance. You
see, Robert used to work in the private sector – and there is often much more
potential to make more money there. But
I guess you’d have to know Robert to understand that he really is more of a
public sector guy, a place where “going the extra mile” is appreciated and
celebrated. Last Friday’s festivities
really served to drive this point home to me, and I can more fully see that
this is where a guy like him belongs.

Here are a couple of pertinent pages from the program:

And here is the happy public servant with his award:

(A special thanks to Mandy, who went with us. While her mother was too shy to go up and
take a picture, Mandy just trotted her little pregnant self right up there and
got a couple of shots!)

We all had a wonderful time (and some really great dinner
and dessert didn’t hurt, either). I can’t
begin to tell you how proud I am of my husband, and how happy I am that he is
so happy in his job!

There was another fantastic event that happened on the 25th
of May: The World’s Most Beautiful Child
had her very first dance recital. Of
course, the whole family had to attend the extravaganza and we had the time of
our lives! Now, maybe other people won’t
get too excited about seeing a group of two-year olds strut their stuff on
stage, but this old Lolee was excited.
This event had been weeks (or maybe even months) in the making, and I
had been getting updates along the way.

The dress rehearsal was serious business, and Paisley had
the demeanor to match:

Here are some shots of the performance:

For those who might want to see the actual performance
(cute, cute, cute!), you can click here (Paisley is the 4th from the left). As for the part where Most Beautiful lifts
her skirt: Paisley’s mother explained to
me that there was tape on the floor with their “marks” on it. I guess when one of the other girls was standing
so close, our girl knew that something was off, and she was trying to see where
her mark was. Once she found it, she
tried frantically to go through the moves to catch up.

Apparently, it is customary for even two-year old dancers to
receive bouquets of flowers. Paisley’s
parents -- and both sets of grandparents -- brought bouquets to Most
Beautiful. She was so tickled and
absolutely thrilled to receive them.
Mandy combined the various flowers to make this lovely arrangement:

Most Beautiful officially has been bitten by the
entertainment bug, for she already has been asking when she can dance for “everyone”
again. She was quite disappointed when
her mother told her that she would have to learn some new dances and that it
would be a little while. Paisley is
ready to go again!

Gone But Never Forgotten: Cookie...

...And Chewka Marie...

...And Ruby...

Liked roosting on our shoulders, eating grapes, and hanging out with Opal

...And Pearl

Liked running free in the yard, scratching in the garden bed that was supposed to be off-limits, and being close to a human at all times. "Her" crowing led to "her" having to go back to her original family due to a city ordinance against roosters!

...And Molly

Likes EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD, pouncing Cookie and Toffee, going out to potty at 2:45 a.m., and drinking water out of puddles. Is now living with another family in the area, in a big house with a pool and two other Golden Retrievers!